Webinar: Optimising your AI strategy depends on your leaders. Are they ready?
New research with 1,000 people managers reveals the leadership gaps that could hold back returns on AI investment.
Wednesday, 25 November 2026 | 11.30-12.30 GMT | Online, via Zoom
Organisations have invested in AI, and much of the work of putting it into practice now falls to people managers. Join the team behind Shape Talent’s new research as they share what 1,000 people managers in large UK and German organisations told us about their readiness to lead AI adoption, and what it could mean for how you develop managers.
Why leadership readiness matters for AI adoption
Organisations are investing heavily in AI, but value depends on managers’ ability to lead the change. They must redesign work, question AI-informed decisions, experiment under uncertainty and support their teams, often before organisational direction is clear. Yet half of 102 chief HR officers at Fortune 500 companies are not confident in their managers’ ability to guide employees on AI*.
Readiness also varies. Managers may feel confident questioning AI outputs but less comfortable experimenting with AI when outcomes are uncertain. Development needs to address these gaps, not simply reinforce existing strengths.
Building on the seven capabilities in our first paper, The Leadership Leap, we surveyed 1,000 people managers in large organisations in the UK and Germany. Using a new scale developed and tested for this research, we measured readiness across four factors and its relationship with AI adoption progress. Only one in five managers feel ready across all four. The factor most closely associated with progress is the ability to translate AI direction into the structures and routines of everyday work.
What the session will explore
- Where managers feel most and least ready
How managers rate themselves on Adaptive AI implementation, Critical AI judgement, Exploratory courage and Human-centred AI change, and why the pattern matters for development. - The support managers say they need
What managers say would help them lead with AI, and how those requests compare with where they feel least ready. - Turning AI ambitions into everyday practice
How readiness to turn AI direction into structures, routines and clear roles relates to the progress managers report with AI adoption. - What this could mean for your priorities
Why each factor may need its own development approach, and whether managers across your organisation have the same chance to experiment with AI.
Meet the speakers
Hear directly from the team behind the research.
Priscila is the lead author of this research and a co-author of our first paper, The Leadership Leap. She holds a PhD in Work-Life Performance from Oxford Brookes University, where she was also an associate lecturer in leadership, and is a recognised expert in Leadership & Development, Human Resources and Gender Equity.
Holly works with coaches and organisations to strengthen the quality, effectiveness and impact of coaching. With a background spanning academia, coaching practice and organisational consultancy, Holly specialises in translating research and evidence into practical insights that help organisations make better decisions about how coaching is designed, delivered and evaluated.
Who should attend
This webinar is for Chief People Officers, Chief Talent Officers, HR Directors, Heads of Talent and Heads of Learning and Development in large organisations, and for the Chief Technology, Innovation and Transformation Officers partnering with them on AI adoption.
Join us on Wednesday, 25 November to hear what managers told us, and to explore what it could mean for your leadership development priorities.
*Meinen, M., & Mulherin, M. (2026, August 16), AI’s effect on workplace culture, published by Gallup.